


Partners

by Mediarama (Sekken_Ya)



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Anxiety, Bathing/Washing, Biting, Blood, Canon Related, Comfort, Drama, Enemies to Lovers, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Frottage, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Kissing, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mental Health Issues, Porn With Plot, Self-Harm, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 12:20:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16576376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sekken_Ya/pseuds/Mediarama
Summary: Jesse McCree and Genji Shimada don't particularly start off on the right foot, and things only get more awkward as the two are forced to share a room and work together closely.





	Partners

**Author's Note:**

> The biology I'm using for Genji is from here: http://vermillionsketcher.tumblr.com/post/179471407465/ (With permission to share this image from the artist)

“McCree, come up here.”

Jesse sighed into the towel he was using to dry off.

“Comin’, boss.” He muttered, as if the voice over the intercom could hear him, throwing the towel to the heap and languidly shuffling to the command center, where he knew Gabriel was sitting pretty as he watched practice.

It wasn’t rare for Gabriel to call him out like this, either to reprimand him or try and give him some pointers. The man sure loved to hear his own voice. To Jesse’s surprise, however, the boss was not alone when he found him.  “Well, who’s this then?” Jesse smiled, nodding to the newcomer. He’d seen omnics before, but this one was new. The man clearly still had some human left in him, but what was left was marred beyond repair. What Jesse could see of the man’s face were two piercing red eyes, some serious eyebrows, and a lot of scars. The moment Jesse locked eyes with him, it felt like he was being stabbed in the heart, either by daggers or an arrow. _Uh oh._ He thought. _This one’s gonna’ be trouble._

“Genji Shimada.” Gabriel put his hand on the man’s shoulder, only for Genji to quickly shrug it off, making Gabe smile.

“Wait, Shimada? Of _those_ Shimadas?” Jesse’s eyebrows raised. He knew the Shimadas were on their blacklist, so what was one of them doing here?

“Yes, of _those_ Shimadas.” Gabe continued smiling. He was getting a kick out this, wasn’t he? “His family wants him dead, and nearly succeeded in making it so, but Dr. Ziegler put him back together, and now he’s joining Blackwatch. And you’re in charge of him.” The Commander pushed Genji forward with a pat, forcing him to step forward a bit, to which the man’s eyes narrowed in rage, but he didn’t speak up.

“Uuuh, if you don’t mind me askin’, why me? Surely there’s people better suited to takin’ care of somethin’ like… This…” Genji’s eyes shot up to his face, the glare directed once again at him. Jesse didn’t break his stride, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit intimidated. Gabe was clearly finding all this amusing, having a hard time hiding his smile.

“He reminds me a lot of you when you first joined us. Self-destructive, ornery, standoffish. Figured you’d be the best choice. Plus, you seem to have a lot of time on your hands nowadays.” To this Jesse scoffed, making Gabe give him a look. “Why, do you have an issue with my decision?” Jesse fought rolling his eyes.

“No sir. I’ll try not to disappoint you.” He once again looked at Genji, who was looking off in some other direction with disdain.

“Good. You’ll be making direct reports to me and Dr. Ziegler regarding his behavior and health. You’ll also be sharing a room with him. I’ve had your stuff moved.” At this Jesse’s eyebrows furrowed, and he opened his mouth to say something, but a look from Reyes made him close it.

“Yes sir.” He sighed.

“Good. Go report to Dr. Ziegler now, and she’ll give you the lowdown on what she’ll want you to do.”

“Yes sir.” He repeated, and looked to Genji. “Well, let’s get goin' partner.” He made sure not to touch him, but gestured for him to follow. Genji looked back at Gabe for a moment, to which the man gave him an encouraging nod. Genji nodded back, and began begrudgingly following Jesse.

* * *

 

As the pair walked to med bay, the silence was deafening. Jesse wanted so badly to break the silence, but he couldn’t think of anything productive to say, and he was afraid to be met with those vicious eyes again, so he just stayed quiet. When they finally reached their goal, Jesse was relieved to be in the presence of a familiar person, and could almost feel the tension dropping out of him as he saw Angela Ziegler hard at work. She was so absorbed with whatever she was doing that she didn’t even seem to notice when they walked in.

“Dr. Ziegler?” Jesse called out, approaching her desk. No response. “Angela?” He loomed over the desk, leaning over and waving a hand in front of her face.

“Oh!” She shot up, shooting her rolling chair backwards violently. “Ah,” she grabbed the chair, and pulled it back to her desk. “Sorry, Jesse. I think I may have dozed off.” She had certainly looked better, the bags under her eyes made it clear she hadn't slept in a while, at least well.

“S’not a problem.” He smiled at her. “Reyes sent me here so you could tell me a bit about our new recruit.” He motioned his head towards Genji, who also seemed to have relaxed, if only a bit.

“Oh, Genji! How are you feeling today?” She raced around the desk and began poking and prodding the man. Unlike earlier, this time he didn’t protest. Jesse took a step back, giving the two some space.

“Well enough, Dr. Ziegler.” After hearing Genji speak up for the first time, Jesse raised his eyebrows. _What a handsome voice._ He thought to himself, then shook the thought out of his head by physically shaking his head.

“I told you you can call me Angela.” She quirked her mouth, continuing to lift this and bend that as Genji continued looking forward.

“And I’ve told you, I’d rather not.” It was awkwardly silent again for a moment as Angela kept herself busy inspecting her work, until Jesse cleared his throat.

“Oh! Sorry, you’re right, I almost forgot why you were here!” Angela took a step back, and addressed Jesse. “So, I’m sure you can tell by looking at him, but Genji is comprised mostly of artificial parts at the moment.” At this, Genji seemed to tense up again, crossing his arms. Angela looked at him sadly for a moment, before turning back to Jesse. “It’s all perfectly functional, I assure you, but he’s a bit of a work in progress. Has been for a few weeks now, but we finally felt that he was at the point where he could begin moving around and going about daily life like everyone else.” She smiled weakly. “But we’re scared to let him really do all this on his own. He’s a bit unstable at the moment, both mentally and physically, so we need someone to watch over him. We figured it might be better to assign someone he can actually work with rather than medical personnel. Is that OK?” She looked to Jesse with concern.

“Huh,” Jesse scoffed, “Not like I’ve really got a choice ‘s far as the commander’s concerned.” He looked to Angela apologetically. “I mean, of course it’s fine. ‘Course I’d prefer to have more say in it, but I really don’t mind, s’long as he doesn’t.” He looked to Genji at his side, who seemed to be avoiding this conversation like the plague.

“He’s got as little choice as you do in this matter, unfortunately.” She sighed. “But I think the two of you will be good for each other. Or at least, you’ll be good for him.” She laughed, and went back to sit at her desk. “So basically, I just need you to keep an eye on him. There’s a few specific things you’ll need to do, though…” She opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a piece of paper. “Here, I’ve written up a schedule with details.” She handed it to Jesse, and then pulled another one out and looked at it. “I’ll go over the important things." She cleared her voice, before beginning her spiel.

"First of all, he DOES need sleep, but he also needs to recharge the battery operating his mechanical parts. There’s a port at the back of his neck,” she turned around and pointed to a spot on the nape of her neck. Jesse looked over at Genji’s neck and saw it, then gave Angela a thumbs up. “There’s a battery in your room, he needs to recharge every night. It should last for a week, so bring it to me on weekends to refill it. As for meals, he also still needs to eat, although he doesn’t taste anything. His tongue’s synthetic, but all his organs are more or less organic. We’re lucky they didn’t take as much damage as some other parts.” She looked seriously at the paper, and it was clear that she’d gone back into work mode. “So he needs to brush his teeth, and eat breakfast. He can practice with you, and others, but only in moderation. It’s important that you keep a close eye on him during these times. He doesn’t have a lot of experience working with his new parts in a combat situation, so we’re not sure how effective, or ineffective, they’re going to be.” She began tapping her finger on the desk as she spoke. “Lunch and dinner, like before. You really need to make sure he eats.” At this she pointedly looked up at Genji, who started looking away as soon as she looked up. “He tends to avoid eating. It’s understandable, surely the sensation of eating without being able to taste is uncomfortable, but I’m sure dying of starvation is even more so.” Her look lingered on him, then she turned to Jesse. “If you can’t get him to eat, bring him back here and we’ll give him an IV or an injection of the nutrients he needs.” She smiled menacingly at him, causing Jesse to wonder how many times they’d had to do that in the past. Genji looked a bit nervous. Jesse’s mouth quirked into a smile. “Moving on,” she looked back at the paper. “The only other important thing is washing up. He’s not completely waterproof, so completely submerging him isn’t advised. As you can see, he’s only got so much flesh, but his sweat glands function normally. I’m sure no one wants a sweaty, brooding cyborg wandering around base, so please make sure he washes up. He may need your help reaching his back. It’s a bit awkward, but it’s important.” She looks up at Jesse imploringly. At this point, he had resigned himself to whatever he had to do, so he just shrugged it off.

“‘S fine, not like I don’t see the other men nude in the showers every day.”

“Speaking of!” Angela smiled. “Your new room has a private bathroom. It’s important to me that Genji has his privacy in this crucial time, so I gave up my room for the two of you. Not like I sleep there much anyways.” She chuckled. Jesse interrupted, a look of concern replacing his smile.

“Wait, wait, surely there’s another room we can use! I don’t wanna take yours, doc!” 

“Unfortunately there really isn’t. The only rooms with private bathrooms are reserved for higher-ups and medical staff, you know this. Gabriel fought with me on this one too, saying you two should just stay with the other troops, but I won’t have it.” Angela looked at him matter-of-factly, ending the argument right there. Jesse sighed.

“Alright. If you feel that strongly about it.”

“I do.” She smiled at him again, and put the paper down on her desk. “Well, that’s about it! Any questions?” She looked at the two of them expectantly.

“I’m sure I’ve got some, but not any that I can think of at the moment.” Jesse looked at Genji, who remained quiet. “I think we’re good.” He turned back to Angela with a forced smile. She reciprocated the smile.

“You two will get used to this in no time. And depending on how you _behave_ , **_Genji_ ** _._ ” She looked pointedly to him again. “We can end this arrangement as soon as we’re sure that you’re stable. Alright?” She looked at him, waiting for a response.

“Understood.” He finally responded after a moment of silence, still not meeting her eyes. She sighed, then looked towards Jesse.

“Well, if you can think of those questions, feel free to stop by any time. I’m always here.” She motioned to the room.

“Gotcha’. You get some rest now, Doc. You’re still pretty as a peach, but we worry about ya’. Wouldn’t want our angel to be anything but her best.” He winked and tipped his hat at her, to which she playfully rolled her eyes. “Alright, let’s go grab us a bite to eat then, Genji. I’m famished.” He began making his way for the door, with Genji at his heel.

“Genji.” She called out, making the man stop and turn around. “Please try your best.” She looked at him imploringly, and he seemed to think about it for a moment, before nodding, and turning to follow Jesse.

* * *

“Let’s make one thing clear, cowboy.” Genji spoke up in the empty hallway a few meters away from med bay, breaking the awkward silence between them and almost making Jesse jump out of his skin. Before he could respond, Genji continued. “I don’t need you to babysit me. And I don’t need you to be my friend. Let’s get this observation period over with as quickly as possible.” Jesse scoffed.

“You think I want to be on suicidal cyborg duty? Sounds like you’re the one that’s makin’ the situation what it is. Maybe if ya weren’t so broody and cooperated better they wouldn’t see fit to make me your _babysitter_.” He rummaged through a pocket and pulled out a cigar and lighter. He lit the cigar and put it in his mouth, when suddenly, in a flash of movement he lighter dropped to the ground with a clatter as Genji pinned him against the wall, his hand pushed against his throat, choking the life out of him. Genji caught the cigar as it dropped from Jesse's mouth with his free hand, Jesse attempting to pry the other off of his throat as he gasped for air.

“You speak as though I **_asked_ ** for this body. Like I **_wanted_ **to be what I now am.” The smaller man’s voice was dripping with malice and murderous intent. “Do not speak as if you know me, cowboy.” His grip tightened to emphasize the word, before loosening it. “And do not smoke in front of me.” He let Jesse go, and crushed the cigar to pieces in front of his face, before walking away.

“Strong arm…” Jesse rasped under his breath, rubbing his throat and looking at the would-be cigar on the ground before moving to follow Genji. “I knew he was gonna’ be trouble…”


End file.
